Posts

Showing posts with the label apostolate

New blog on the Lay Apostolate

Daniel Blackman, a layman and theology graduate, has started a blog called Apostolate of the Laity . The blog takes its impetus from the Vatican II Decree on the Lay Apostolate Apostolicam Actuositatem . I believe that this important teaching has been neglected in favour of a strong, and in some cases exclusive focus on "lay ministry" in the Church associated with the Liturgy. The Lay Apostolate has a relation with the hierarchy, of course, but it is a specifically lay enterprise in which clerics might offer spiritual support but do not appropriately engage in as lay people do. It would be wrong, for example, for a priest to become active in a political party or a trade union; but it is vital that good Catholic laity do become involved in these areas of life. On this subject, it is always worth re-visiting Christifideles Laici . Congratulations to Daniel on this new blog and I wish it every success.
Read more

"Is it possible to live this way?" volume 2

Image
The UK Launch of the book "Is it possible to live this way? An Unusual Approach to Christian Existence. Vol. 2 Hope" by Luigi Giussani will be held on Thursday 2 July at 7.30 pm at Westminster Cathedral Hall. Speakers will be Fr. Julian Carron - President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, and Mgr. Mark O’Toole - Rector of the Seminary of the Diocese of Westminster. See also the Communion and Liberation website . Description of the book by CL: The book is a compilation of Luigi Giussani’s conversations with people following the path of consecrated life in the Catholic Church . As in all his works, Giussani encourages individuals to be serious about their own existence and faithful to their experience. The conversations reported here are fascinating and insightful, providing support for a way of life that today is frequently questioned, rejected, or censured.The text reflects on the “evangelical counsels” of poverty, chastity and obedience, proposing an unusual yet...
Read more

Cukierski Family Apostolate

Image
A correspondent sent me a link to a great picture on the site of the Cukierski Family Apostolate . I was a bit slow in following up and now I can't find the picture. Nevertheless, the site is one of those "goldmine" Catholic sites put together out of love and full of good things. The Cukierskis (Walt and Wendy) have thirteen children and say: Children truly are a blessing from the Lord. When we cooperate with the Lord and allow new life to be created, we have actually given our Lord a gift, too...another soul for eternity! How awesome is that?! They educate their children at home and raise chickens and cows and do organic and hydroponic gardening (don't ask in the combox, look up "hydroponic" on google - I had to!) I liked this bit: Don't worry, you won't find us hugging trees...we worship the CREATOR not the creation! Just good ol' Simple Catholic Living. The site's speciality is hard-to-find sacramentals and there seems to be something for ...
Read more

Society of St Justin

Image
In response to my post about Salisbury Cathedral, Steven sent information about the Society of St Justin which has an apostolate to pray at places that were once used for Catholic worship. An extract: On visiting a church, monastery, shrine, even if ruined, which had previously been used for Catholic worship recite the following [ viz. Pater, Ave, Gloria ] for the repose of the souls of all who have worshipped there in the past, especially the priests who faithfully offered the holy sacrifice of the Mass and in reparation for all wrongs committed there. Pray also for the unity of Christ’s church around the See of Peter and for the intentions of our Holy Father
Read more

Second Spring Community - and forum

Second Spring , a journal of faith and culture, edited by Stratford Caldecott, aims to return to the sources of our faith and to promote the evangelisation of our culture. Recently, the Second Spring Community section of the website has been updated and there is a new interactive forum, especially for young people, called " Questioning Faith ". Why not sign up over there and join in?
Read more

"Is it possible to live this way?"

Image
The UK launch of the book “Is it possible to live this way?” by Mgr Luigi Giussani will take place on Thursday 27th of November in Westminster Cathedral Hall at 6.30pm. The book is a compilation of Giussani's conversations with young people who have chosen the path of the consecrated life in the Church - that is, have chosen to live their lives in the world according to the "evangelical counsels" of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The speakers will be Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor and Fr Julian Carron (president of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation). For more information, see the Communion and Liberation website .
Read more

With the Knights at Aylesford

Image
Last year I gave a lecture at Aylesford for the local Province of the Knights of St Columba on the Catholic response to secularism. They asked me to speak again this year and so this afternoon I joined them at the North Barn which the Friars have recently restored with the aid of English Heritage. The Knights wanted me to continue with the same theme, and more recently we agreed that it would be good to look at Bishop O'Donoghue's "Fit for Mission? Church" since it offers a wealth of practical suggestions for action which are relevant to promoting the mission of the Church in a secular society. Personally I was glad of the opportunity to study the document in greater detail. After giving some background information, I outlined the structure that Bishop O'Donoghue used and then took a few examples from the four areas of Liturgy, Revelation, the communion of the Church, and the Church in the Modern World. Overall, I tried to emphasise that Bishop O'Donoghue does...
Read more

Lay ministry and lay apostolate

Fr Paul Harrison ( Thoughts from the Lune Valley ) has been visiting Fr John Boyle, the South Ashford Priest and Fr Ray Blake at St Mary Magdalen's, Brighton . Fr Ray has posted a very good article ( Thoughts with the Lune Valley in Brighton ) discussing the involvement of the laity in parishes before and after Vatican II. I agree wholeheartedly with his observations and would like to add an example of my own. In the late 1930s, my father was a teenager in St Margaret's parish, Canning Town. The parish not only had the Knights of St Columba but also the junior branch, the "Squires". Several of the Knights were members on West Ham Borough Council. They used to give lectures to the young lads on Catholic social teaching and its application in practice. It is important to note that Vatican II did not call for lay ministry in the Church. But it did publish a whole decree on the lay apostolate. Without the need for any "time bombs" or ambiguities, the Council...
Read more

Psalms on the tube

Responding to the Noli circumspicere post, Fr TE Jones said: I always carry a book on the tube to ensure custody of the eyes,but never listen to my MP3 player, earphones make you unavailable, people will speak to you if you are reading. Thus I can ensure I avoid inappropriate conduct and still ensure availability to people. I remember reading once some advice for priests in an old book to the effect that you shouldn't read the breviary on the train in case people were scandalised. Presumably in those days, people knew about the priest's obligation to recite the breviary and might be shocked that he hadn't said it quietly somewhere. Nowadays, it is probably edifying for people to see the priest reading something that is obviously a holy book. It is often presumed that it is a bible. (One of the Mission Impossible films makes this mistake.) Still, I try to arrange the day so as not to have to read the breviary when on the train. It is not always possible and yesterday I knew...
Read more

Contemplative vs Active

At St Cecilia's yesterday, I had the chance to discuss with Sister the similarities between the active and the contemplative vocations in the Church. We agreed that it is a mistake for someone to flee to an enclosed order in the hope of "peace and quiet". The routine of most enclosed orders is quite onerous, sometimes even gruelling, ordered as it is by the bell, and occupied with many hours in chapel chanting the Divine Office. The time for other tasks is quite limited. A project such as a translation or a short book can take up all the spare moments of the life of a monk or nun. That is not to say that the enclosed life is without peace. St Augustine defined peace as the tranquility of good order. The enclosed life lived according to a rule can certainly provide for that. But it is very different from what a certain Latin teacher in Rome once described as "sitting in the sun with your thumb in your mouth and your mind in neutral." As a priest working in a pari...
Read more

Popular posts from this blog

Saint Gabriel

Image
The angels call for our veneration and awe as part of God’s creation. Part of the destructive modernism of the 1970s included advice to Catholic school teachers that they should not talk to children about angels. This wrought lasting damage which continues to need rectifying. We should include in our prayers a heartfelt recourse to our own Guardian Angels. The Archangel Gabriel “God is my strength” would be terrifying were he to appear to any of us. Our Lady was “troubled” at the word of Saint Gabriel and wondered at the manner of the salutation. Immediately, according to his mission, the awesome messenger explained himself. Modern retelling of the event is often reduced to the jejune “Mary said Yes to God”. In fact, she said “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word”. This conveys more accurately the flawless faith and trust of the Immaculata. In the infinitely wise providence of the Father, we now know the structure of the event in even more detai...
Read more

Plenary indulgences not impossible

Dilexit Prior in Letters from a Young Catholic asked some useful questions today about indulgences. I thought it would be best to do a post here especially to cover the controversial question of detachment from venial sin. But first the other questions: The conditions for gaining a plenary indulgence Pope Paul VI set down a number of norms relating to indulgences at the end of Indulgentiarum Doctrina . Norm 7 states: To acquire a plenary indulgence it is necessary to perform the work to which the indulgence is attached and to fulfil three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. It is further required that all attachment to sin, even to venial sin, be absent. If this disposition is in any way less than complete, or if the prescribed three conditions are not fulfilled, the indulgence will be only partial, except for the provisions contained in n.11 for those who are “impeded.” It is worth reading the other norms bec...
Read more

Portiuncula indulgence tomorrow (and indulgences generally)

Image
Tomorrow, 2 August, you can gain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions ( see below ) by visiting a parish Church and there reciting the Our Father and the Creed . This is called the Portiuncula indulgence and goes back to St Francis of Assisi. Fr Z has the details . Don't forget that you can also gain a plenary indulgence by visiting a Church on the day of the titular feast, and there reciting the Our Father and the Creed . I made a list of other indulgences: please see the post Plenary indulgences for particular days which has a link to the list. The post has some background information which you may find helpful since indulgences are not well understood today - which is not surprising since indulgences are not included in most Catholic education curricula, and most priests never preach about them. Therefore many Catholics are left with whatever silly, half-baked, ill-informed nonsense about indulgences happens to be current. If you want to understand the theology...
Read more

Our Easter Faith: Not a Pious Crème Fraiche

Image
In public life, some basically well-meaning figures have the graciousness to wish us well at Easter and to recognise the importance of the Christian feast day. Perhaps they might assure us that their thoughts are with us at this time. That is kind of them and in Christian charity we should thank them for their kindness, but Easter should be a great deal more than that for us. We must believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ is risen from the grave, in the flesh, and lives for eternity. We cannot treat Easter as a jolly holiday that heralds spring, or the remembrance of a significant event from the past. It must change us today and every day, change who we are and what we do. The Christian faith cannot be a mild custard or blancmange of religiosity. (I am showing my age. Nowadays, I should say that it cannot be reduced to a pious crème fraiche .) We bow down and adore the King of Kings, risen from the tomb, who, “[…] continues for ever,...
Read more

Blessing of the New Painting of St Bede at Clapham Park

Image
This morning, the parish priest at Clapham Park, Fr Marcus Holden, blessed a new picture of the parish's patron, Saint Bede, painted by James Tildsley. It is sited over a recently installed side altar near the rear of the Church. The altar itself was acquired from Antique Church Furnishings . The website gives the information that the altar was built and carved by a nun in a convent near Liverpool. It is a beautiful piece of work and it is always a joy when such works of art find a suitable and dignified home. The inscription on the gradine is AMANS AMATUS AMOR. The sellers translate this as “Loving is the object of love” which is a reasonable stab at “dynamic equivalence”. Today the parish's relic of St Bede was exposed for veneration in its distinctive brightly-coloured reliquary. After the blessing, there was High Mass with Fr Holden as celebrant, Fr Littleton deacon, and myself subdeacon. That gave me the enjoyable task of chant...
Read more